Recently, news broke that Epic Games is buying Fall Guys developer, Mediatonic. Fall Guys proved to be a hit for the developer when it was released last year, partly thanks to its PlayStation Plus debut on Sony's platform. Since then, Fall Guys has gone through several seasons of themed content and still boasts an active player base to this day. The battle royale and platforming title is set to be released on Nintendo Switch and Xbox platforms, but this, arguably, isn't the biggest recent news for the developer and their multiplayer platformer title.
The success of Fall Guys has been described as a phenomenon, with the title reaching several significant sales milestones, in addition to becoming the most downloaded PlayStation Plus title of all time. Fall Guys is an independent title, which has seen more of a return on investment than the developer Mediatonic could have predicted. Now that it is an established title, it seems as though the developer behind has received some significant attention. Epic Games, creators of the Unreal Engine and a hugely successful publisher and developer, have bought Mediatonic.
Epic Games' Vast Resources
Epic Games is a developer, publisher, and creator of the Unreal Engine. One of the team's biggest successes has been the smash hit Fortnite, in addition to previous successes with the Gears of War series. The Epic Games Store is a popular digital storefront, and the Unreal Engine is so popular that gamers even use it as a playground to create high-quality interpretations of fan-favorite media. Epics Games has a huge well of resources that will undoubtedly prove to be a boon for Mediatonic.
Whether for existing projects or any new games Mediatonic has lined up, the team has secured strong backing with the gaming giant. Mediatonic's platformer already had a bright future ahead of it, with the theme of Fall Guys' season 4 recently confirmed, now the game has an even more secure future lined up. With the backing of Epic Games, Fall Guys could potentially go from strength to strength, in addition to anything else Mediatonic could want to develop in the future.
Crossover Potential with Fortnite
Epic Games' Fortnite has been a monstrously successful release for Epic Games, one that has seen huge appeal across the board with players of all ages. One of the most successful aspects of the game has been its adoption of other media and bringing it into the Fortnite fold. Throughout its lifespan, Fortnite has crossed over with the likes of The Walking Dead, God of War, and The Mandalorian. Further crossovers with other media seem to be part of the continued game plan for Epic Games, and now with the acquisition of Mediatonic, Fortnite, and Fall Guys could see a mutually beneficial relationship develop.
Both Fall Guys and Fortnite are hugely successful independent of each other. Both games also have a strong crossover appeal, and while Fortnite's capabilities are well-established, Fall Guys is no stranger to crossing over with other media like the recent collaboration with Cuphead. The doors have opened for the two battle royale games to crossover, which would undoubtedly excite fans of both games. Crossover skins for both games would be a given, but there could be potential for some meaningful gameplay crossover as well. The two titles have inherently different gameplay, but now that Mediatonic is under the Epic Games banner, anything could be possible.
Mediatonic has secured a possibly big future for itself with the Epic Games acquisition. The Fall Guys developer is likely to have access to a large pool of resources now, meaning that Fall Guys could grow bigger than ever before, and its future projects could see significantly larger budgets. A Fall Guys and Fortnite crossover was potentially leaked recently, but now it almost certainly could happen. In addition to Mediatonic reaping the benefits of this new partnership, Epic Games could see a boost with the revenue stream from Fall Guys too. This is certainly a space to watch for fans of both games, due to the big potential for cross-brand events.
Fall Guys is available now on PlayStation 4 and PC, and it's set for release on Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X in summer 2021.